Bookrack



Dec. 19, 1944.

BOOK RACK- Filed April 6, 1943 L. H. BURLIN 2,365,452

Patented Dec. 19, 1944 BO OKRACK Leslie H. Burlin, Valparaiso; Ind.,assignor to Milvton L. Sturm, Evanston, Ill., doing business as MiltonSturm & Company, Chicago, Ill- Application April 6, 1943, Serial No.482,028

3 Claims.

This invention relates to racks for receiving books, magazines or thelike; and particularly to such book racks as are of small size toreceive a few books or magazines and hold them in a convenient orhandy'position.

It is one of the. objects of the present invention to provide a'smallportable book rack with book ends which will maintain a continuouspressure upon the last book' of the group to hold all of the books ofthe roup" in an upright positlon and to maintain. the books in such.position as successive books are removed from the rack.

It is a further: object of the present invention to provide such a bookrack' wherein the pressure that is applied? to: the last book of thestack for holding it vertical will be applied thereto at;

substantially the same distance from the base;

regardless of how" few or how many books there are on the rack.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide asimple and economical book rack construction of the above mentionedcharacter wherein a continuous spring pressure is maintained on the lastbook of the stack and yet will not require the use of metal springs.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a bookrack of the above mentioned character which may be made substantiallyentirely of wood, so that with the exception of a few screws (which mayalso be replaced by wooden pins) the entire book rack may be made ofwood.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a book rackembodyingthe present in vention, said view being taken along the line 1-! ofFigure 2;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the rack of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFigure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Like reference numerals in the various figures designate like parts.

The book rack of Figure 1 consists of a base I in the form of a flatrectangular wooden board which rests on an open rectangular frame 22'.The underside of the flat base I has a rectangular wooden bar 3 securedthereto in any desired manner as, for instance, by a pair of screws 44.

at the bottom of the partition 6 extends.

The bar 3 extends longitudinally of the base centrally thereof and forthe major portion of the length of the base. A central flat woodenpartition 6 extends across the top of the base I at the center thereof.To facilitate securing the partition '6' in place the base I is providedwith a rectangular slot I through which a tongue bar 3 is slotted forreceiving the tongue 8 of the partition 6. A screw lBeXtends through thebar 3- into the partition 6 for firmly securing the partition in place.Since the tongue 8 fits snugly in the slot T of the base I thepartition- 6 is held by the slot against turning and there: fore asingle screw H) is suflicient to hold the partition firmly in place; Thetongue fits firmly in the groove in thebar 3 and is thus heldvertically.

A pair' of identical and members l2'l'3 ex tend through slightlyoversized slots [4 in the base I. Each member l2-I3 is bifurcated at itslower end, as indicated at l5l5, to embrace the bar 3, and is pivoted tothe bar by dowel pins 16. A pair of similar flat wooden spring stripmembers 20-40 are secured to blocks 2 l2l fastened to the underside ofthe base I on opposite sides of the longitudinal center thereof. Eachspring member extends from its block 2| at one end of the base towardsthe opposite end of the base Where it bears upwardly against a pin 23secured to the opposite end member 12 or l3, as the case may be. Thewooden spring member 20 of Figure 1 is secured to the block 2| at theleft hand side of Figure 1 by a screw 24 which maintains the spring 20in the position illustrated in Figure 1. When the member I3 is turnedabout its center IS in a clockwise direction the pin 23 forces the righthand end of the corresponding spring member 20 downwardly so that thespring member acting on the pin 23 constantly forces the end member l3toward the partition 6. It is to be noted that the spring member 20 isheld at one end by the screw 24 and that the corner of the associatedblock 2! acts as a fulcrum for the spring mem- ,ber 20. By tighteningthe screw 24 the tension on the spring member is increased so thatthe.pressure on the spring member against the pin The member I2 or [3swings outwardly from the partition 6 and the curve 26 maintains acontinuous pressure against the last book or magazine in the rack. Thepart 26 is of such curvature that as the end member l2 or I3 is swungoutwardly from the partition 6, as by the placing of more books on therack, the curve 26 maintains contact with the last book in the rackalways at approximately the same height from the base I. The end memberI3 is curved at 21 along a radius centered at l6 whereby the back of theopening M in the base is maintained closed by the end'member I3 as itswings about its center Hi. This results in the maintenance of a neatappearance of the book end for all positions of the members l2--I3.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes I have hereshown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention. It is,however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to theprecise construction here shown, the same being merely illustrative ofthe principles of the invention. What I consider new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A book rack comprising a supporting structure including a base, astationary vertical partition secured to the structure and extendingacross and above the base, an end member pivoted 'on the structure belowthe base and extendin upwardly through an opening in the base, theportion of the end member that extends through the opening substantiallyfilling said opening and being curved along arcs centered at the pivotcenter of the end member, spring means urging said end member towardssaid stationary vertical partition, and into engagement therewith, thepart of the end member that engages the vertical partition being curvedalong an arc such that upon pivoting of the end member away from thepartition its points of tangency with a vertical plane remains atsubstantially the same distance from the base.

2. A rack for books or the like comprising a base, a central verticalpartition extending across the base and including a tongue extendingthrough an opening in the base, a bar secured to the under side of thebase and having a slot into which the tongue extends, said bar extendinglongitudinally of the base centrally thereof, end members pivoted to theends of the bar and extending upwardly through openings in the base andadapted to bear against the end books that may be positioned on thebase, flat spring strips on opposite sides of the bar and each securedat one end to a fixed portion of the rack and bearing at its oppositeend against an end member to urge the end member towards the centralvertical partition.

3. A rack for books or the like comprising a base, a central verticalpartition extending across the base and including a tongue extendingthrough an opening in the base, a bar secured to the under side of thebase and having a slot into which the tongue extends, said bar extendinglongitudinally of the base centrally thereof, end members pivoted to theends of the bar and extending upwardly through openings in the base,fiat spring strips on opposite sides of the bar and each secured at oneend to a fixed portion of the rack and bearing at its opposite endagainst an end member to urge the end member towards the centralvertical partition, each end member being curved at the part thereofthat passes through the opening in the base along a curvature centeredat its pivot with the bar. l

LESLIE H. BURLIN.

